The man charged with the murder of two nurses on Saturday was at the Dallas hospital where the shooting took place while his girlfriend was giving birth.
Nestor Oswaldo Hernandez, 30, was arrested and charged with capital murder, after killing the two healthcare workers at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
He was detained after being shot by a Methodist Health System police officer.
It has since emerged that Hernandez had a lengthy criminal history and is on parole for an aggravated robbery he committed in 2015, and was wearing an active ankle monitor at the time of the shooting, Fox 4 reports.
The 30-year-old suspect was reportedly granted permission “to be with his significant other during delivery” at the Dallas hospital, a prison spokesperson told Dallas Morning News.
It was not clear whether he was the father of the child that his girlfriend was giving birth to on Saturday.
According to the 2015 indictment, Hernandez and a female suspect attacked a woman who was returning home from work.
They taped the victim’s hands together and put tape over her eyes while Hernandez took her phone, car and $3,000 in cash from a school fundraiser. The victim sustained a broken nose and a fractured eye during the attack.
Hernandez pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison. His criminal history includes violations for possession, theft, burglary, and more in Dallas County alone, the network reports.
Following Saturday’s shooting, Dallas police chief Eddie Garcia said the incident was “an abhorrent failure of our criminal justice system”, adding that he was “outraged” by the lack of accountability that led to the “travesty” at the hospital.
Mr Garcia said the justice system was “broken”.
“We give violent criminals more chances than our victims,” he added.
No motive for Saturday’s shooting has yet been released by police.
